Cyber Security Challenge launches Linux contest

A government-sponsored scheme to find the next generation of cybersecurity professionals has launched a competition designed to test Linux cyber-defence skills.The Linux Forensics Challenge, developed by security company Sophos, puts competitors into a simulated attack situation.

A government-sponsored scheme to find the next generation of cybersecurity professionals has launched a competition designed to test Linux cyber-defence skills.

The Linux Forensics Challenge, developed by security company Sophos, puts competitors into a simulated attack situation. They have to identify what is wrong with a system, how it has been compromised, the attack tool, and posit the attacker's motivation. Competitors will be expected to prioritise mitigations in a simulated attack, and identify opportunities for strengthening the system.

"A lot of the recent highly publicised data breaches have occurred on applications running on Linux," Sophos director of technology strategy James Lyne said in a statement on Friday.

The Cyber Security Challenge is a series of tests designed to identify participants with the necessary skills to enter into cybersecurity careers in the public and private sectors. Sponsors include the Cabinet Office, Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance (Ocsia), the Ministry of Defence, CESG (part of GCHQ, the signals intelligence agency), and defence company QinetiQ.